The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission reached a settlement with Tron and its founder Justin Sun on Thursday, the SEC said in a court filing.
Under the terms of the settlement, Rainberry Inc., one of the companies associated with the Tron network, will pay a $10 million fine and will be barred from future violations of securities regulations. The SEC sued Sun and Tron in 2023, alleging violation of federal securities laws through the sale and airdrop of Tron (TRX) and BitTorrent (BTT) tokens. The agency also alleged manipulation of the TRX secondary market through a plan for “extensive wash operations.”
“The remaining claims against Rainberry would be dismissed with prejudice,” the filing states. “The final judgment would also dismiss all claims against Justin Sun, the Tron Foundation and the BitTorrent Foundation.”
The harm means that the SEC would not be able to bring a similar action again in the future for the same conduct.
“The Commission has reviewed and approved the terms of the settlement, as set forth in the Consent and Proposed Final Judgment. Rainberry, Justin Sun, the Tron Foundation, and the BitTorrent Foundation have consented to the entry of the Final Judgment,” the filing states.
The proposed settlement is still subject to approval by a federal judge.
At the time, the SEC, under the leadership of former Chairman Gary Gensler, filed a number of lawsuits against crypto companies.
The SEC abandoned most of those cases after President Donald Trump took over last January, primarily under Acting Chairman Commissioner Mark Uyeda. The commission is now led by Chairman Paul Atkins.
Sun purchased approximately $80 million worth of World Liberty Financial (WLFI) tokens — the token tied to the company partly owned by Trump and his family — after Trump’s re-election in 2024. The SEC’s case against Sun was put on hold last year, alongside numerous other cases the agency brought against crypto companies.
Spokespeople for the SEC and Tron did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
UPDATE (March 5, 10:00 p.m. UTC): Adds additional context.
